KRepton Editor Manual

The KRepton Editor can be used to create and amend episodes for the KRepton game. It is an integrated part of the KRepton game application.

Selecting an episode to edit

Select the episode to be edited as if you were intending to play the game, then select Game Editor from the Editor menu. The editor window will appear showing the general episode information.

Episode Information

From the Episode tab you can create, reorder and delete levels. The episode name is set when you first save the episode; of course, the password for the first level is never requested. You can also change the time limit or the password for an existing level.

It is not (yet) possible to change the size of an existing level.

Create a transporter by specifying its origin position (which triggers the transporter when Repton moves on to it) and the destination position (where Repton reappears after transporting). The map must have a transporter sprite at the origin position; the consistency check will verify this and tell you if not.

When the levels and sprites are to your satisfaction, you can either play the game immediately, by selecting an option from the Game menu, or save the episode using Save or Save As from the File menu.

The Map Editor

Edit a map by selecting the level in the scrolling list and then switching to the Map tab.

The level is shown in the large scrolling view, with the current coordinates of the mouse pointer; you can use these coordinates as a reference when placing transporters. To place an object, select it in the scrolling list of objects (the object graphic will be shown to the right of the list) and then click the left mouse button over the map to place the object. Click the right mouse button to delete any existing object and place an empty space.

There are two display options which can be useful when creating or modifying transporters:

Turning on the Transporter Routes check box will show the start and end point of each transporter route. This is useful when placing the transporter sprite which must be present at the starting point.
Turning on the Selected Transporter check box and selecting a transporter in the list will show the start point of that transporter, marking it with a cross. This can be useful in ensuring that the intended transporter to change or delete is selected.

Changes made to transporters in the main editor window will be updated and shown here immediately.

The Sprite Editor

Edit the episode's sprites by switching to the Sprites tab.

Select the sprite to be modified from the scrolling list, which will be previewed at actual size to the right of the list and enlarged in the sprite area. Place coloured pixels using the left and right mouse buttons; the colours which each button will place can be selected by using the Left and Right buttons below the sprite preview.

The sprite editor should suffice for simple editing, but it is also possible to edit the sprites using any other graphics application. The sprites are contained in the sprites.png file (in the standard PNG image format) within the episode directory. For advanced sprite editing I suggest using the powerful GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), available freely at www.gimp.org if you do not have it installed already.

Consistency Checking

The consistency check checks the levels for the most common editing problems, some of which are merely warnings but others which may make the level unplayable. The check is normally done automatically when saving the level (this can be turned off, see Editor Options below), or the check can be done manually using the Check Consistency button or the same option in the Editor menu.

The following checks are done for each level in the episode:

The level password is specified (not blank)
A valid time limit is specified
One and only one Repton (start position) is present
At least one finish level object (in the original episodes, the bomb) is present
For each transporter, their origin and destination coordinates have been entered and a transporter sprite is present at the origin
If cages are present, there must be at least that many spirits to be caught in them
If strongboxes are present, there must be a key to open them
The passwords are unique for all levels in the episode

There are some other conditions which, while not necessarily making the level unplayable, may cause problems for the player and so a warning will be given:

The transporter destination should be an empty space, otherwise Repton may die or become stuck when using the transporter
There is no bonus object (in the original episodes, a crown) to be collected
There are more spirits than cages for them to be caught in; it will not be possible to catch all of them
Eggs are present, but there are no rocks available to kill the monsters

Note that the consistency check does not exhaustively test whether the level is actually solveable (that would be a far more challenging AI problem); for example, it would give no warning for this level:

Finished!

When the editing is complete, simply use Close to close the editor. Alternatively, you may start playing the modified episode at any time using one of the options from the Game menu.

Editor Options

There is a Check Consistency Before Saving option on the Settings menu. If this is turned on, the check will be done automatically before the episode is saved. This can be turned off to allow partial episodes to be saved while work on them is in progress.

Note that a check is always done before starting to play a level. If the check fails for any of the reasons above, it will not be possible to start the game; any problems must be fixed first.

Sources and Links

See the game documentation for further information.